Hair treating compound



Patented Aug. 9, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Brown, Mount Vernon, signer to said Frederica N. Y.; said Brown as- No Drawing. Application February 23, 1935, Serial No. 7,842

4 Claims. (Cl. 167-871) This invention relates to methods and materials for the treatment of hair, ,and particularly those used in the so-called permanent waving of human hair.

In imparting a permanent wave to the hair, it is necessary to soften the hair, rendering it pliable by chemical means. One widely used method of softening the hair is by subjecting it to the action of ammonia gas, preferably during the entire permanent waving treatment, which occupies usually from 7 to 10 minutes. Various expedients have been adopted for producing the ammonia gas in suitable quantity and for the desired p riod.

The present inventionhas for its object the provision of a novel and efiective method of treating the hair, and particularly of combining the softening action of ammonia gas and that of certain salts, such as the normal sulfites of sodium, calcium, potassium or magnesium, to cause a rapid and highly eflicient softening of the hair. Another object is the provision of asuitable mixture of ingredients for the purposes described. Other and further objects, features and advantages will appear from the description which follows.

For the purpose of supplying ammonia gas to the hair during the waving treatment, it is usual to wrap the hair in an absorbent pad or wrapper saturated with a water solution of a compound or mixture capable of releasing ammonia or other vapors beneficial to the process. Upon the application of heat the vapors of ammonia and the like are given off. Various ammonium salts may be used to release ammonia upon decomposition during the application of heat. However, different ammonium salts have dif ferent properties, some giving off ammonia rapidly and others slowly, some at relatively low '40 temperatures and others at higher temperatures. Some of these salts are hygroscopic and others not. In the case of a non-hygroscopic salt, evaporation of the water of the solution, when exposed to the atmosphere, causes the formation of a crystalline deposit upon the sides and neck of the bottle or other container, and upon the fingers of the operator, which deposit is unsightly and troublesome. In the case of other salts, their instalbility at normal temperatures occasions considerable loss ofthe ammonia vapors during the process of saturating the pads and wrapping the hair. I

In accordance with the present invention, instead of applying to the pads a solution of an ammonium salt, there is applied'a solution of a composes, under the action of mixture of ingredients which will react, under proper conditions, to form a very desirable ammonium salt for the purpose. The ingred ents are also preferably chosen to avoid the disadvantages of the ammonium salts in solution, as described above. For example, it has been found that, aside from its instability, ammonium sulfite is an-exceptionally suitable salt for use in hair waving. It is hygroscopic, thus preventing the crystalline deposits mentioned above, and it has the characteristic of giving off ammonia gas at a rate and at a temperature suitable for the hair waving treatment. However, ammonium sulfite is so unstable at ordinary temperatures that, if usedin the ordinary way, a large loss occurs during the impregnation and application of the pads.

In accordance with the present invention, the advantageous features of ammonium sulfite may be derived in such a way as to obviate the aforesaid undesirable result. This is accomplished by applying to the pad a mixture of ingredients which, when the pad is applied to the hair and heated, react to a certain extent, to form ammonium sulfite, which then, under the action of heat, decomposes to give off ammonia gas. The action of the ammonia supplements and accelcrates the action of the other ingredients of the solution, rendering the action of the solution as a. whole much more efllcient.

Materials which may be satisfactorily employed are aqua ammonia and sodium sulfits, which may be mixed in water solution, at room temperature, without causing reaction. This solution is not volatile nor unstable at ordinary temperatures, and thus the loss of materials due to evaporation or decomposition, during the preliminary handling of the lotion, does not occur. When a pad saturated with the ammonia-sodium sulfite solution is wrapped about the hair,and heat is applied, a reaction takes place which results in the production of ammonium sulfite. f It is believed that there is a reaction between the sodium and certain protein material of the hair, forming a sodium-protein salt, releasing the sulfite radical which reacts with ammonia to form ammonium sulfite. However, it is not intended to limit the present invention to any par-' ticular reaction or group of reactions, or by reliance upon any particular theory. But it is known that ammonium sulfite is formed, and dethe applied heat, in a manner to supply free ammonia.

The reaction as a result of which the ammonium salt is formed is a progressive one, and

does not proceed to completion during the hair waving period, but may involve only a relatively slight proportion of the sodium sulflte or other salt present. However, we have discovered that the action of the ammonia, given of! as a result of the decomposition of the ammonium salt, cooperates in some way with the action of the other salt in the solution, and makes for a more eflicient softening of the hair than would be expected from either ingredient alone or from a mixture of them.

The ammonia and sodium sulfite mixture is not hygroscopic, and it is therefore preferred to add to this mixture a proportion of ammonium sulfite, for the reasons hereinbefore mentioned. The mixture is thus rendered sufliciently hygroscopic, while the small amount of ammonium suliite added does not appreciably afiect the stability of the mixture. If desired, any other harmless hygroscopic material may be used in place of the ammonium sulflte, the latter, however, being preferred for the reason that it is itself a desirable source of ammonia gas.

In accordance with the present invention we may use between .5% and 6.0% of each of the three preferred ingredients (1. e., sodium sulfite, ammonia and an hygroscopic material, for instance ammonium suliite), in the solution, but the total of such ingredients should not exceed about 10%. The percentage of water will thus range between and 98.5%. As an example, a satisfactory solution may consist of 4.0% sodium sulfite, 1.0% ammonia, 1.0% ammonium sulflte, and 94% water.

Other suliites, such as calcium, magnesium or potassium sulfite, may be used in placeof sodium sulflte, and in fact any materials may be used which are not harmful to the hair and which react to form ammonium sulflte under the conditions obtaining in the permanent waving of hair. It is also apparent that such materials may be chosen as will form ammonium salts other than ammonium sulfite, the invention involving broadly the feature of applying to the pads a solution which does not contain an ammonium salt, but which contains ingredients which will form an ammonium salt in the course of carrying out the waving process, which salt will then be decomposed to give of! ammonia gas. Such other ammonium salts may include ammonium citrate and ammonium tartrate, which may be developed under similar conditions from solutions containing either sodium citrate or sodium tartrate and ammonia.

The terms and expressions employed herein are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and it is recognized that modifications may be made in the method and materials disclosed herein, without departing from the scope of this invention.

We claim:

1. The method of treating hair consisting in applying to the hair a pad. impregnated with a solution containing ammonium hydroxide and a sulfite of an alkali metal, and heating said pad.

2. The method of treating hair consisting in applying to the hair a pad impregnated with a solution containing between 0.5% and 6% sodium sulfite and between 0.5% and 6% ammonium hydroxide, said ingredients totaling not more than 10% of said solution, and heating said pad.

3. A hair-treating compound comprising a solution containing ammonium hydroxide and a sulfite of an alkali metal.

4. A hair-treating compound comprising a solution containing between 0.5% and 6.0% ammonium hydroxide, and between 0.5% and 6.0% sodium sulfite, but said ingredients totalling not more than 10% of said solution.

ERNEST O. FREDERICS. JAMES C. BROWN. 

